For those that have started their own business I present this GoDaddy video. Sales, or raising money, from family is one thing. But once you either obtain outside investment or get your first non-family sale is how you may feel. This video is hilarious. It started off slow but when the entire red head family joins in, excellent!

Zillow was founded in 2005 and is public on the Nasdaq under the symbol Z. Trulia was founded in 2005 and is public on the NYSE under the symbol TRLA. Zillow announced today, 7/28/14, that they would purchase Trulia for $3.5 billion in stock, although the deal is not going to close until sometime in 2015. Zillow’s CEO will run the combined company and both brands are going to remain after the acquisition.

About Zillow in Their Own Words: “Our mission is to empower consumers with information and tools to make smart decisions about homes, real estate and mortgages.” “….It starts with our living database of more than 110 million U.S. homes – including homes for sale, homes for rent and homes not currently on the market.” Zillow about page.

About Trulia in Their Own Words: “…giving consumers the information they need, helping professionals build their businesses, and creating additional value in adjacent markets.” “..Trulia offers 15 mobile apps across multiple platforms, including dedicated apps for renters, mortgage seekers, and agents. Trulia attracts more than 51 million unique house hunters every month, and during peak periods on the weekends, the majority of the traffic is now coming via mobile devices.” Trulia about page.

Shark week begins August 10th. It is impressed that “Shark week“, as it is called, has become as popular as it has. Discovery channel created Shark week back in 1987.

There are two interesting Facts It is not just a one time show, but is a week long event and the longest running cable television programming event in history. The week long event is now broadcast in over 72 countries. Longest running cable television event and broadcast in 72 countries are two impressive facts.

Pushing the Envelope Each year the Discovery channel adds more interesting content. You can now watch a 24×7 live camera from the national aquarium at the Discovery website. While these are sharks in captivity the benefit is that they are very visible due to the lighting.

What are you Wearing for Shark Week? Blu Kicks have an entire line of men’s and women’s shoes with amazing designs related to various species of fish. They also provide a portion of every sale to help protect threatened habitats through their giving back program. They donate to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, WildAid and For the Fishes. They are all fish related charities.

GoPro recently went public on the Nasdaq:GPRO. Regardless of whether you think it is worth the current valuation or not, what do you think about the stock sold and by whom?

Typically we think of a company going public as a way to raise money for the company itself. For example, let us assume a company sells 1,000,000 shares for $10 at their public offering. The company ends up with $10,000,000 to help the company grow. After all that is what investors who are buying the stock assume the proceeds are going to be used for.

According to Reuters here is how the stock was offered. 17.8 million shares were offered to the public which broke down into:

Concepcion Federman (mother): Sold 15,000 shares for $360,000. She still owns 285,000 shares.

Dean Woodman (father): Initially sold part of his stock to a VC fund for about $7 million. He still owns 7.25 million shares.

When you look at the contributions, this group of individuals founded the company, seed funded it, work at it and made it what it is today. They deserve every penny and worked hard for it.

However, there was a total of $8.9 million shares sold at the IPO for half the raised capital which did not go to the company, that seems like a lot and thankfully all that information is public as it is important for current shareholders and potential new ones to understand.

Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN) has seen better days. The stock price has also seen worse days. Lately it has been hovering closer to it’s all time low than the all time high. Recently the stock price took another dip and it was said to have been due to the Illinois sales tax. I have read many articles about Groupon this year and each has been informative from one angle or another on their business model.

I just read the best article on Groupon that I have seen in a while from the Motley Fool entitled 3 Reasons Now May Be the Time to Buy Groupon Inc. I do not want to steal their thunder so I recommend you read their article. Particularly read the paragraph and their analysis of why Groupon may be Better than Amazon.com or eBay.

5 Year Stock Price Chart

Here is a chart, courtesy of Yahoo Finance, for the last 5 years of Groupon’s stock price.

Do read the Motley’s article for a well researched analysis. They point out that Groupon’s Deals business is growing revenue per year at a much faster rate than Amazon.com or eBay, and the company repurchased shares at nearly double the current stock price over the last year. (in their last paragraph).

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About Brian Longest

"Making my living online since 1997" Like many entrepreneurs I have a varied background, a Computer Science Degree as well as a Law Degree (programmed and practiced Intellectual Property law). I have well over 16 years of online business experience, have started companies, run companies, and raised venture capital on both coasts. Find me on Google + and Brian Longest on LinkedIn, partner at Phase One Accelerator.